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Paging Drew Brees: Why Sean Payton's Suspension Was Way Too Lenient

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just handed down a one-year suspension to New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, and an “indefinite” suspension to his former defensive deputy, Gregg Williams, for sponsoring a bounty system that rewarded players for causing their opponents to be carried off on stretchers. The reactions have been swift: “unprecedented,” “harsh,” “unexpected.” The Saints’ star quarterback, Drew Brees, tweeted in support: “I am speechless. Sean Payton is a great man, coach, and mentor. The best there is. I need to hear an explanation for this punishment.”

Ok Drew, here’s your explanation: your “great man, coach, and mentor” failed utterly as a man, a coach and a leader. The most surprising thing is that the NFL would still employ him, much less Williams, going forward.

For the record, I love playing football, and spent my high school summers in the 1980s selling soda at New York Giants summer training camp in Westchester County. (Good margins there: I’d buy cases of Penguin soda at 20 cents a can, and sell them for a buck.) Phil Simms and Harry Carson and LT were my customers. My regard for the game is longstanding and ingrained.

But that doesn’t mean I’m blind, as you seem to be, to a simple fact: the rules that apply to the rest of the workplace also apply to the NFL. In any normal business, what Payton and Williams did would get them fired. For cause. Immediately. And rightfully so.

Timing is everything here. Yes, football is a violent game that rewards aggressiveness — bounties have existed for decades, which is why they are explicitly banned (though Williams apparently offered them at two of his previous jobs). But at the same time that Williams ran, and Payton blessed, their bonus system, NFL veterans were dying or killing themselves at wildly disproportional rates, victims of “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” — brain disease caused by too many concussions.

This has been the biggest sports story of the past decade (led brilliantly by my friend Alan Schwarz of the New York Times), a constant drumbeat on the front of magazines, newspapers and websites as the bodies piled up. Surely, Payton and Williams knew (or at least knew of) the late Dave Duerson, or the late Tom McHale or the late Andre Waters or a half-dozen others, all dead, directly or indirectly, from repeated blows to the head — yet at the same time they read about these deaths, they thought it wise to pay their players $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000 for “cart-offs.”

What would happen to the mining executive who, trying make a production quota, furtively pays his employees to work without a ventilator? Or marketing executive who, eager to get a cigarette account, quietly rewards employees who lead by example by puffing three packs a day? They’d be fired – and so would anyone who played a role in it. Except this is worse – in those examples, the boss is risking the lives of workers directly under his command. Here, Williams and Payton sought to profit (i.e. win) by using their employees to consciously endanger others.

You are clearly a leader, Drew. You embraced New Orleans fully when few others would, and have played a key role in your adopted city’s comeback. I trust you’ll sleep on this, and see the light here. For a long time, Goodell expressed willful ignorance, as well. He’s finally waking up. Perhaps it’s the massive legal liabilities, which the Saints have now added to. Perhaps it was the clumsy cover-up. Perhaps, finally, he’s finally accepted the undeniable evidence. Regardless, Goodell’s punishments, compared to the real world, feel way too lenient. A real company wouldn’t rehire these guys. Neither should the NFL.

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The New Orleans Saints were “MADE AN EXAMPLE OF”. There have been numerous problems that have surfaced throughout the years with different NFL teams. I believe that if the commissioner wants to hand out such harsh punishments, he should be looking closely at EVERY team in the NFL. Our saints have always played with passion and heart. This has all been a big misunderstanding in the fact that this was not their intent. They certainly weren’t huddled up in the locker room scheming to break necks of the opposing teams. It’s ridiculous. Was it wrong for them to not come completely clean at the initial questioning? Yes. But, again look at the past and look at what other teams have done. And it just so happens that the NFL decides to do something as extreme as this when it’s OUR time to shine in OUR hometown this year for the superbowl. Sean Peyton is a great man and no one can strip him of that title. People need to learn how to look at the bigger picture of things and stop bringing others down. Our team will come together and the WhoDat Nation will enjoy such sweet victory when we win our superbowl in our superdome with all the complete and utter nonsense that they will have to face this season. Mr. Commissioner, your ears will be ringing.

You can wag your finger all you want, and I know Saint’s rivals are absolutely delighted that Saint’s fans are gut wrenching tonight. Is a rivals job to bask in the misery of an opponent. I can’t fault you for that.

What disturbs me is Goodell’s indifference to the Saint’s fans. That disturbs me greatly.

Stick to writing your business columns, Randall. The NFL doesn’t “employ” Payton, the New Orleans Saints do, the most the NFL could do is an indefinite suspension. Furthermore, I think the punishment is what it should be, if not a little on the heavy side. Intentionally hurting players is horrible, yes, but how many people did the saints D actually injure? I haven’t done the math, but I bet it’s not significantly higher than any other team. These guys make millions of dollars at the expense of their bodies, making the game safer makes it more boring, period. The league has already done too much in the name of player safety. But all they have really done is make the game more tame. How about instead of making more rules every year, they improve the safety equipment, which hasn’t had a significant advance in decades. how about when they fine a player, they invest that money in equipment R&D instead of wherever it actually goes. But I digress, Payton got at least what he deserved, if not more than he deserved.

1st off the author of this article is a complete moron. calling Sean a failure as a “man” seems to me that your expressing your short comings as a “man”. The facts are that the NFL FAILED in it’s 1st attempt to find anything yet continued fishing for anything to nail the Saints with. If you remember before the Super Bowl that the Saints WON, the NFL tried to claim that the words “WHO DAT” belonged to the NFL and couldn’t be used for Saints apparel that were being sold weeks before the Super Bowl. The NFL also claimed that the “Fleur-de-lis” was also a symbol owned by the NFL and also could not be used by the Saints for its apparel. The state of Louisiana looked into SUING the NFL over its outlandish claims and lies of ownership. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/caldwell_says_no_need_to_sue_n.html <– This story shows and proves that point. The NFL backed down when the state of Louisiana got involved. After the Saints won the Super Bowl, keep in mind I did say AFTER, the NFL decided to launch their investigation into the Saints. Coming up with nothing in their 1st investigation, the NFL then turned to past players for inside info. In the past few hours, it has been suggested that Jeremy Shockey was the whistle-blower which lead to Wednesdays results. btw, for your information, yoo focker, Sean makes 6 mil a year and not 8. I agree with part of Jones' response when he wrote… "I recall, the Patriots coach is still working for the same organization which was secretly taping and recording opposing teams locker rooms." and "And then there’s Michael Vick, who is employed by Philadelphia franchise." How were these 2 instances allowed to pass through the NFL's infinite wisdom? Why was Michael allow to come back, at all, after being convicted of such a heartless crime? Why didn't the Coaches, GM and Owners of Philadelphia hit with large fines, suspensions, etc. just as the Saints were? Several NFL players have come out to say that the Saints were not the only team that has participated in this "bounty" type of program. Greg Williams has Coached for several teams besides the Saints yet NONE of those teams have been looked at and handed done similar sanctions. This is not to mention that current and former NFL players have confirmed that the rest of the NFL teams DO PARTICIPATE in similar "bounty" programs yet the NFL has ignored these allegations. It's obvious that the NFL didn't like being told that it didn't own the "who dat" chant nor the "Fleur-de-lis" symbol and that the state of LOUISIANA was willing to sue the NFL over, both of which had been in use in Louisiana for more than 130 years. Roger Goodell's should have never handed down such harsh punishments to the Saints and sends a clear message to the rest of the NFL team owners that FIRING him IS in the BEST INTEREST of the NFL. BTW Jones, NOTHING and I do mean NOTHING can compare the sexual abuse of minors at Penn State with what is going on with this story and only a ignorant and small minded person such as you would even think like that. Those people involved deserved much worse than what they received. Firing the Head Coach should have been an arrest for accessory to the fact. NFL players are in the business of violent hits but those kids were MOLESTED and RAPED! there is NO comparison you idiot!

I applaud this article. Simply because I was surprised that Tom Benson didn’t fire his coaches. I mean the NFLs message for the last 4 or 5 years has been that they will protect players as much as possible and here you have the Saints running this program. Sure all teams may have a bounty system, but I’ll bet none of them had it at such an organizational level. To all the Saints fans that think this punishment was to harsh or that football is suppose to be aggressive keep in mind that non-contract bonuses are and have been illegal in the NFL for quite sometime. Not only did the Saints violate that rule, they lied about to NFL executives when confronted, tried to cover it up, and continued the program. That type of stuff would have a CEO fired, with cause, in a heartbeat. It was simply foolish to have a bounty program that rewards you maybe $1,000 when players know that the NFL will fine them $10,000 to $15,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Saints brought this upon themselves and so did Sean Payton. He lied to the person that hands out the punishment and that’s why Goodell dropped the hammer.

The NFL in my opinion has turned into a womans sport by trying to protect everybody from getting hit.Pretty soon it will turn into flag football then probably two hand touch.Who cares if the coaches would pay them extra in exchange for someone getting knocked out of the game.Isnt that why millions of people watch football because its a violent sport.Why do highschool kids get rewarded with a sticker on their helmet for knocking someone on their ass?Is that not the same thing?Let them play they knew what they signed up for back in high school

I think the length of the punishment is emblematic of the light sentences and second-chances afforded to players and coaches by America’s professional leagues.

Look at the late Steve Howe. He was suspended six times for drug abuse but continued to play as a reliever. On his seventh suspension in 1992, MLB banned him for life. After an arbitrator overturned that decision, Howe returned to the Yankees and was their closer in 1994.

With all the protections afforded to coaches and athletes, who seem to have more rounds of due process than American could dream of, Peyton’s punishment seems like the maximum the NFL could probably issue.

This is ridiculous. “Failed” as a coach? 4 playoff trips and the first superbowl for the organization EVER and you say he “failed”? What are you smoking?

The fact of the matter is, I can’t think of a single Saints tackle in recent memory that’s caused injury. If you could pull up statistics from the amount of injuries caused per team, I’m sure the Saints would not be higher or lower than any other team.

Your comparisons are a moot-point because they are completely different. If you had any empathy you’d realize that football is an intense sport and the players take it very seriously. While I don’t condone the actions performed by the Saints, I can certainly see why they would do it. I HIGHLY doubt they are the only team doing this. What about James Harrison helmet trucking every player he sees? It’s not right any way you put it, whether your getting paid or not. Alabama players were getting paid to lay big hits on Auburn players; is that not the same exact thing as this? But that event drew much less criticism. It’s all biased.

What fails about your argument is 1) your inability to empathize with the players in a sport that is violent by nature. Players will be lay out massive hits whether they’re getting paid or not, which I don’t think you seem to understand. Like I said, even while this “bounty” program was going on, the only injuries I can think of were big hits to Kurt Warner and Brett Farve during the playoffs, both of which the quarterbacks were fine a play later and continued playing. And 2) your lack of football knowledge, though you claim you have some. Your attempts at comparing football to other occupations is void because they are completely different. While mining and the cigarette business are both occupations harmful to the health, neither of them include PURPOSELY harming others as apart of the job. Violence, unfortunately, is the core of football. Not a play goes by where people aren’t attacking each other.

Was it wrong? Yes. Should they have done it? No. But saying a year suspension without pay is too lenient? I don’t agree. You should stick to what you know when you write, which apparently is business, politics- and food!